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Happy New Year, everyone! :D

And to my patrons; thanks for making 2016 a whole lot better <3

I cannot thank you enough for all your support, it means so much to me and it has been and continues to be a huge motivation for me.

It is now January 2017, and in ten months from now (November 2017) is the deadline of my goal to have finished writing the entire SPIKE story (2nd draft), every chapter, from start to finish.
It is a big story and an even bigger project, so I have felt the need to have it all planned out down to every single detail before writing all the chapters. I map out my characters a bit more than I probably  need to, which basically means that I know enough about each character (including most of the "background characters") to potentially write a novel for each of them.
A lot of that info will never reach the final novel due to not being relevant or important enough, but they are still important details for me to know in order to make all the gears in this intricate clockwork mesh together as close to flawlessly as I am capable of.
But my point is, more or less, that while I've usually been the kind of writer to just "wing it" and write whatever, SPIKE has become a story that time and time again reminds me that it actually needs a very detailed recipe.

And it is that 'recipe' I have spent the past couple of years working out.
Last year was a year of huge progress, and I have decided to start off this year with going through all of that info, all of that planning, and all of those details to start mapping out a fine-tuned recipe of the entire SPIKE novel. After that I'll give myself a few weeks to practice writing again, and then, before summer starts, I'll focus fully on writing the chapters.

I've noticed how quite many of my followers have interpreted me saying "SPiKE will be finished by November 2017" as it meaning it'll be published by then. And I hate to dissappoint, but there's no chance at all that it'll be published this year. That journey will begin in 2018.
In November 2017,  the entire second draft will be finished. Once I've done that, I'm gonna take a break from the novel. Sort of "put it in a drawer and leave it there" thingy until January 2018, perhaps even a bit longer if I can manage to wait for that long. This is to clear my head a bit and get some distance from the novel, which has been a constant sound in my head for over a decade now. The benefit of this is that once I pull out the story from that metaphorical or actual drawer again, I can read through it with a fresh(er) view, read it once as if I was a reader and not an author, and then take a few days off again before starting the editing process. Don't worry; editing it won't take nearly as long as writing it has ;) I'm guessing two-three ish months, maybe.

So let's paint a scenario:
The second draft finishes on November 2017. January 2018 I look over the story again and in February 2018 I start the final editing. May/June, "SPIKE" is printed out in manuscript format and shipped to publishers of my choosing. The future of the novel is in their hands now, and basically all I can do is wait. Fingers crossed I'll start hearing from them in autumn 2018.

So whether it'll be through actual publishers or self-publishing, I am sorry - yet excited - to say that the SPIKE novel will most likely come out in book format in 2019.
2019 looks like a nice number, actually. I somehow get a good feeling about that year :)

But yes, 2017 will be an exciting year for me. Stressful I'm sure, but definitely worth it.

Thanks to your pledges I have gotten a licenced copy of Scrivener which is majorly helpful in organizing all the details of SPIKE. I have even gotten a Macbook Air! And I feel spoiled as hell just saying that.. But I managed to save up for the first half of it, it's the older model (2015?) and it was on sale and had a free downpayment thingy which doesn't require me to pay for it until after 12 months - which is plenty of time to save up for the remaining half.  With Windows laptops notoriously dying on me every two to three years in addition to crashing and laggin and whatnot, getting a Macbook has been a secret wish of mine that I never thought I'd actually afford. But holy moly, that little thing is an absolute dream to work on. It's like someone took everything that irked and annoyed me about every laptop I have ever owned, and made the exact oposite.
I'm sorry if I sound like I'm trying to convert any of you to Mac, don't worry that's not my agenda ;) I am just overjoyed with this little machine that makes novel writing indefinitely more joyful.
A few of my many, many favorite things about it is that it's the most portable computer I have ever had - it weighs less than most of my sketchbooks/ideabooks..! And with a battery life of 13 freaking hours I can write whenever and wherever for longer than what's probably good for me, lol, without worrying a second that I should plug in the charger. It's soundless (in comparison to my tinitus-inducing, 17" Acer behemoth), it never heats up above body temperature and usually the only thing heating it at all is my hands (again; totally oposite of my thigh-boiling Acer), the keyboard is hella comfy, backlit, and omg.. I'd never thought I'd have a laptop that made me smile everytime I used it, one that just... works like I want it to.

I'm rambling again, sorry XD

I just wanted to thank you all for making so many things possible for me.  That machine in particular will, as mentioned, make novel writing a hell of a lot easier, especially since I can write outside of my home now too.
I am hoping to save up for an inexpensive writing-vacation - which I've heard other writers do and which sounds awesome: staying at a hotel/cabin/borrowed home/whatever, someplace nice where you can be on your own, away from any daily expectations, chores, whatever, and just focus on writing. Surrounded by new impulses right outside your door, lush with inspirational/motivational sources. A vacation where your main goal is to write. In your own time, by your own schedule, but with plenty of things to do in between to freshen your mind and let yourself relax and focus better on your story.
I would also have loved to travel to places where I feel I can learn more about my characters. Like visiting Northern Ireland as research for my character Saunders and get to know him better by seeing where I imagine him growing up. But doing all those trips would've cost me every spare organ I have, probably, and then I still would be 90% short on the remaining cost, lol XD
So I probably should have thought of that sooner.. :p haha
But a writing+research vacation in Belfast is something I want to try and save up for.

Anyways...

The big writing year is here, and I am already well started :D
I sadly don't have that many spoiler-free drawings to show you guys, but here's a little character height chart at least :)
I made one earlier last year that can be found on my instagram (ozoozou) or somewhere in my statuses on DeviantART. That one showed at least Spike and Charles as a lot shorter, because for some reason I had decided that having two tall characters was cliché?
But for this chart I started off with measuring not numbers or assuming the height of individual characters, but their height difference in comparison to the other characters.
Like, Terrance was supposed to be shorter than Saunders, yet a bit taller than Sam. Spike was supposed to be almost as tall as Saunders yet appearing the same height as Sam. Spike was also supposed to appear a lot shorter than Charles, but Charles was previously never seen with any of the other characters so his actual height was a sort of mystery to me.
Ray was a tricky one, because he felt sort of taller than Spike, yet Spike wasn't supposed to be shorter than Ray, so after some thinking I realised that all the characters have two types of height: physical height and psychological height. Ray is so  full of positive energy that he sort of takes up a lot more space than Spike does, as well as appearing far more confident and very charismatic, which might make him feel psychologically taller than Spike.
Also one major thing I failed to take into consideration when it comes to physical height with Spike, is how he slouches, a lot. He sort of shrinks in the presence of everyone, which makes his psychological height shorter than anyone else's -  except Sam, whom he feels safer and more confident around.
Back when Spike's character first came to be, I always knew he was around or a bit over six feet tall. I think it had a sort of symbolical meaning to it too, with the whole "six feet under" phrase and Spike being the exact same height above ground as he wished he'd be below ground.
I'm a sucker for symbolism :B

Anyway, so after taking into consideration both how tall each character feels and how tall they are physically according to one another, I came to the conclusion that these are the most accurate numbers for their height I have so far.
Lillith isn't in the lineup because I haven't fully decided on her height, but she might be a bit shorter than Ray.

(Also, they're measured from their heel and up on the foot that's furthest away from the 'camera', and to the top of their heads - not counting hair volume)

I am thinking of making the photoshop file available as a patrons only reward, so you can have fun changing the order in which the characters are standing as you wish. As well as the full resolution version of this image, in case this post doesn't show it in its full size.
I will also post this image to DeviantART soon-ish, but as promised patrons get exclusive first view to the majority of the stuff I post on DA.

This particular post is free to view for both pledging and non-pledging supportert :) Just a little token of appreciation, because you're all awesome <3

I hope you've had a great 2016, and here's to 2017 being even better, yeah? :D
Cheers, luvs! <3